Yesterday i attended the financial literacy training--train the trainer. Very good hands on curriculum by NEFE.  I recall this curriculum in NC where it is required class in the high school.  Seems to be very effective there.

What was most rewarding for me was interaction with other VISTAS and the conversations about the challenges and rewards of GEAR UP program.  For example the training focused on lessons to teach youth about the value of money,how it works in life and how good financial literacy knowledge and skills can support the goal of attending college.  One of the issues that arose was related to parents who can become a barrier;  VISTAS shared that students tell them that thier parents point to themselves as an example of  success without a college education.  Another comment from Chevy in the UP was that parents do not want their children to go to college because they believe that after attending college, their son or daughter will not return home and this will have an impact on family and community well-being.  Thoughts of a foucs group were running through my head.....

Along the lines of evaluation, i am curious about since this financial literacy component is being added to activities to  support student success acclimation to college,  is this something for APR???
Well that's all for yesterday and today i am perusing the curriculum and NEFE's website as a follow up for the training.

peace,
docglo

Today i am reviewing CMU's final report as they were identified as having the best response to return of student and parent surveys.  I also see where they appear to have a good relationship with teachers and school administrators such that this creates a framework for program impact.  The teachers for example knew what kinds of incentives house to proffer to increase survey response.  Second this strong relationship with teachers and school administrators may provide stability and program continuity in the context of a turbulent school district and massive migration of families.  Perhaps it is worth examining how this relationship has come about and determine is this is a best practice model for GEARUP and school personnel.  Finally CMU is also unique in offering every activity listed in the APR in year 5.

I also see the continued challenges related to students such as absenteeism, hunger and the challenge of caring for younger siblings and parent participation.  I looked at the data/tables for student expectations given problem with incorrect listing of answers etc.  Would be interesting to explore the process of student expectations--from uncertainty about college as a goal to knowledge and belief that college is affordable and cane achieved.

Tomorrow i am scheduled to attend the financial literacy training in lansing so i will see how this fits in the affordability dialogue for both students and parents.

A thought that came to me this morning after reflecting on the eval reports is oh my God how do we do this; as we all know there continues to be much economic uncertainty, turbulence and challenge globally but particular to us here in Michigan.  The school system, our fishing hole is a part that circumstance.  I liken the best evaluation model to capturing what's good about the eye of the storm.  I am still working on my learning curve and getting acclimated to the office and a new focus in my work.   Yesterday i just looked at some historical and demographic info on city of Pontiac.  Today, well, back to the reading....

Still working on how this works ?????

Tues-Wed.
Another reading :) of the final report doc to help this BIG picture view ...links to understanding the overall evaluatin process, impact of the challenges to formulating/aggregating data.  Downloaded OU and CSU final reports--OU as this is the pilot site and CSU according to data, one of the better exemplars of parent involvement.

In the OU review, i took a closer look at the Saturday Academy as it indicated the most successful vehicle for implementing GEARUP/ CD   and also as a venue for parent involvement.  Questions: how to improve getting back surveys, what is parent involvement?  do we have the same understandings among participants and grantees?  what should we realistically expext?  what is the impact of turbulence/challenges on parents involvemnt

Questions generated from remarks regarding disconnect/lackof alignment in APR process and grant expectations;  How do we better align?  Is there a model out there local, national that demonstrates better continuity? 

Orientation June 15th-22nd

Friday June 15th
This is my first time blogging so i feel like a child learning something new.  I would first like to summarize key points from thr meeting.  My understanding is that my overall goal is to get a state's eyeview of MI GEAR UP and look at some new/strategic ways to approach evaluation that can give us a richer context for success and challenges.  Ok, a lot in a mouthful....  This includes getting detailed information.  The Pontiac schools will be the pilot site for this stage of the project.  So my first few days i'll be spending learning about the Pontiac school system, the surrounding community and parent involvement. We also discussed what makes MI GEARUP successful and research/evaluation strategies that may better capture and augment those program assets and successes.


We concluded with some logistics talk:  deliverables via blogging journal, weekly meeting Friday morning (except this Friday) and office supplies  needed such as computer, ability to phone out of the area, umich research account for library data access, etc., eamil address.


After our meeting this past Friday i started downloading info on the schools; what i have collected includes the strategic action plan 2008-2013, map of the school district which inlcludes a list of elementary, middle and high schools and parent involvement information.


Regarding the surrounding context i looked at articles from the Oakland press that related to POntiac school district.  These articles described the challenges and turbulence that surrounds Pontiac and other school districts such as teacher layoffs, mismanagement of school funding and financial meltdown coupled with state intervention


Monday, June 18th
Well, i looked at some tutorials on how to blog and decided to go with google since i have agoogle acct.  So i successfully created a blog :)  Today i also researched more on Pontiac schools and some history of the city.  I also identified the Pontiac Schools that are participating in MI GEAR UP; i focused on parent information but so far only have a modicum of information--parent news and announcements, standard MEAP testing-score communication.  So now my reading starts, whoooo.  I did pull out and look at the final report a few weeks ago.  I spent the remainder of the day reviewing this document in light of my readings. I sent an email to Ingrid for a phome meeting about OU as grantee in Pontiac schools and also Tracy's contact information.  My goal in the upcoming days and weeks is to better connect the dots--not bad for a MOnday!